


every good intention

by delimeful



Series: October 2019 Prompts [4]
Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: AU of an AU, Gen, Pre-Episode: Accepting Anxiety, Secret Identity, reading the shapes in the silence isnt necessary but it is fun, tiny dragon au
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-11-05
Updated: 2020-06-24
Packaged: 2021-01-23 18:14:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,139
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21324508
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/delimeful/pseuds/delimeful
Summary: Roman, stuck in the form of a housecat-sized dragon, has an unexpected midnight encounter with Anxiety.AKA, an AU of an AU. Written for Day 8: Switched.
Relationships: Anxiety | Virgil Sanders & Creativity | Roman "Princey" Sanders
Series: October 2019 Prompts [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1533644
Comments: 39
Kudos: 449





	1. Chapter 1

Roman paced back and forth, occasionally checking to see if anyone else was awake yet.

He knew that it would be a while- it was the witching hour, much too early for anyone else to be up- but he still distantly hoped that maybe someone would sense his distress and come down to the commons. Not enough to go wake them, of course, because a prince such as himself would never stoop to bothering someone for a rescue. 

Not even when that prince had been cursed into the form of a tiny dragon. 

He wasn’t sure if it was a curse, actually, since it had happened outside of the Imagination with no warning, which wasn’t really the Dragonwitch’s style. He’d been decidedly not-moping in his room about a particularly harsh criticism on one of Thomas’s recent videos, and the next thing he knew- poof! Not only was he transformed into a terrible beast, but one of a truly minuscule size, smaller than a house cat. 

He sat down morosely on the table, his leathery wings laying flat out behind him. What kind of prince was he, unable to solve this crisis or even access his own realm in such a state? Unable to speak, he would have to play charades with the others to get them to understand who he was. It was truly pathetic, unfitting, absolutely mortifying- 

“What the heck?” 

Surprised to hear a voice so close by when he’d heard exactly no footsteps, Roman sprung into the air and twisted at the same time to face the speaker, resulting in a clumsy motion that almost unbalanced him entirely. Curse this infernal body! 

His ears flattened against his skull as he finally focused on the one standing before him. Anxiety, his mortal enemy, looming above him at easily ten times his current size. He tried to say something cutting, and it came out as a scathing hiss, his wings flaring up to make himself seem bigger. 

“Where did you come from?” Anxiety crouched, putting himself level with the table, and tilted his head curiously. His expression was oddly open compared to normal, and Roman shuffled back a few steps, grumbling like a very upset cat. “Hey, easy, little guy. I won’t hurtcha.” 

The Dark Side held a hand out, palm-down in the manner one would greet a wary dog, and Roman snapped at it without thinking. He was so surprised to actually catch flesh between his teeth that he let go at the same time Anxiety jerked his hand back, the both of them springing apart like repelled magnets. 

Anxiety sucked a breath in through his teeth, shaking his hand lightly as though trying to get rid of the pain. Roman could see small dots of blood welling up from the puncture marks in the skin, and backed up quickly, wings still flared as he tried to figure out how to dodge the inevitable retaliation. If there was one thing he knew about Anxiety, it was that he gave as good as he got.

However, the other Side only shot him a wry look, settling back on his haunches. “No touching, huh? Alright, message received. Don’t bite anyone else though, seriously. They don’t deserve that even if they’re a bit clueless about boundaries sometimes.” He eyed Roman curiously. “You should probably leave before the resident dragon slayer gets here, either way.” 

Roman tossed his head, sticking his snout into the air defiantly. He would not be chased off by the likes of Anxiety. 

The Side in question snorted, grinning lopsidedly. “Not afraid of the big bad Roman? You’re a brave one.” He rose to his feet fluidly, ignoring Roman’s defensive hiss to amble into the kitchen. 

It took Roman only seconds to decide to pursue. Who knew what mischief or menace Anxiety could be planning if left out of his sight? He loped over the carpet until he got to the kitchen, his little claws click-click-clicking on the tiles. Anxiety glanced at him, in the process of boiling water on the stove. 

“What, are you hungry too?” 

Roman huffed dismissively in response, eyeing the edge of the countertops speculatively before crouching the way cats did to spring upwards. He managed to get his front legs onto the top of the counter, but it was slick marble and he immediately began to slip, paws scrambling for purchase. He lost his grip and braced for a painful impact with the ground, only to find himself halted mid-fall.

“Jeez, give me a heart attack why don’t you?” A familiar voice said from much too close. Roman opened his eyes, seeing exactly what he feared: Anxiety had him in his evil clutches, hands wrapped around his back and shoulders, holding him like a scaly red croissant. Getting dropped would be better than this. He thrashed, snarling and snapping, and got a mouthful of hoodie for his troubles. 

“Yeah, yeah, hang on.” Without missing a beat, Anxiety set him upright on the kitchen counter, turning back to his half-done ramen as Roman scurried back, trying to get the taste of emo out of his mouth. “You’re welcome, you little terror.” 

Roman made a sound like ‘hrraggh!’ and snapped his teeth again for good measure, tail lashing behind him. 

“You’re absolutely right. I’m so sorry that you’re so bad at jumping, Your Highness.” Anxiety responded as though he’d understood Roman’s cursing, not looking up from his task. Roman nearly froze at the title, but it was clear that Anxiety still had no idea who he was. He sat back, observing. The other Side was acting… off, being so careful and almost kind. Even the blatant teasing was much less barbed than Roman was used to. 

“You escape from the Imagination?” Anxiety asked casually, and then chuckled at Roman’s startled look. “C’mon. I’m no Logan, but it wasn’t that hard to figure out. That’s the only place in the Mindscape I know with dragons.”

Roman snorted dismissively, and watched from the corner of his eye as Anxiety turned away to press a paper towel against his injured hand, wondering where this softer, more forgiving Anxiety had sprung from. It certainly wasn’t how he’d expected a villain to act. He’d envisioned being somehow recognized immediately, Anxiety lording his size advantage over him to grab him and trap him in a dog kennel without food or water, leaving him stuck there for ages so that he could torment Thomas unhindered. Or something. 

“I’m fine, y’know.” Anxiety’s voice cut into his thoughts, and he realized suddenly that he’d been staring at him as he was tending to the bite wound. “I promise I’m not going to discorporate of blood loss. Your teeth are nothing compared to Creativity’s katana.”

Roman turned his head away, embarrassed at the implication that he cared about what happened to Anxiety. He was just staring because the Dark Side kept being confusing, not because he was a damsel and certainly not an ally! That was why he wielded his sword against Anxiety in the first place! 

“Well, if you see Roman, give him a nip on the nose for me.” Anxiety said, stirring his noodles leisurely. “Or run far away, because that guy is a total maniac with a sword. My room’s the one far away from all the others if you need a place to hide.”

Roman squawked, offended on his normal self’s behalf, and Anxiety’s lips turned up again before he turned and left the room, bowl of ramen in hand. Roman stared after him, wondering exactly how much about Anxiety they weren’t seeing.


	2. Chapter 2

Roman scratched pitifully at Patton’s door, mentally thanking his stars that it was so late. 

He didn’t particularly want any of the other sides spotting a tiny red dragon lurking about in the halls. Not that he was lurking or anything! He wasn’t hiding from any of the others, of course, he just didn’t care to deal with them at the moment. 

Right now, he just wanted to curl up on one of Patton’s many pillows and sleep undisturbed. Patton was the only one who knew about his mysterious other form, which was preferable seeing as Roman didn’t want to deal with foul villains or endless dull interrogations by certain unnamed logical sides. 

After the first time he’d gotten stuck in this form, he’d been relieved to find that whatever the strange affliction was, it wasn’t permanent. To explain himself to Patton, he’d spun a story of an enchanted object and a quest, setting the Dragon Witch as the perpetrator of his diminished state. 

The moral side had promised to let him deal with the situation without bringing it up to the others, and he’d also made Roman promise that he’d come visit Patton if he needed or even just wanted to.

Of course, now that Roman was here, the door was firmly closed despite his loud scraping of claws against the wood. He peered under the crack and saw no light, not even the soft night lights that normally dimly lit the room at night. Was Patton not there? 

With a somewhat petulant huff, he made his way down the stairs to the commons, pausing halfway to peek through the stair railing. The sprawled out form snoring away on the couch certainly looked like Patton. He’d probably gotten caught up in another Parks and Rec binge, which was understandable, seeing as it happened to the best of them. 

Roman continued his hops down the stairs, occasionally fluttering his wings slightly to catch air as he landed. Being so small was inconvenient, but the ruby red wings truly were lovely. He turned the corner, prepared to go sit on Patton’s chest and knead him with sharp dragon claws until he woke up.

Instead, he was greeted with the sight of a dark figure leaning over Patton’s head like a malignant shadow. His heart seemed to skip a beat, and he crouched low instinctively, a threatening hiss building in his throat. 

The ominous figure paused, face upturning to reveal familiar eyeshadow. Roman’s hiss stuttered for a moment at the sight of Anxiety’s surprised expression. 

“Oh, hey, it’s the little terror,” the dark side spoke softly, voice low. “You’re still scampering around?” 

Roman sniffed at him imperiously and stalked forwards, intent on putting himself between Patton and whatever this villain had planned. Curious behavior aside, this was still one of the Others. 

Anxiety chuckled at him, and then pulled his hand away from the moral side, revealing a pair of familiar glasses. 

Rather than break them or steal them, though, he carefully folded the frame and set them down on the table. Roman tilted his head at him, ears twitching curiously despite himself. 

“C’mere,” Anxiety gestured. “The dork has imprints on his cheek from falling asleep with glasses on.” 

Roman took his sweet time walking over, just to clarify that he was doing it because he wanted to, and rose up on his hind legs to look at Patton, who truly did look a little goofy. That didn’t mean Anxiety had the right to mock him, though!

Anxiety reached over him again, and Roman began to bristle, only to see that he was brushing a few stray popcorn kernels from the couch and the folds of Patton’s clothes. He dropped the crumbs into the empty popcorn bowl, and stretched his shoulders, yawning slightly.

“Maybe being sleepy is catching,” he whispered to Roman, lips twitching up with amusement. It wasn’t an expression that the creative side had seen on him before. He settled back onto his haunches, watching as Anxiety nudged a pillow further under Patton’s head and even tugged up the blanket to cover him better. 

“He’s gonna kick that off within an hour, tops,” Anxiety muttered to himself, but the fond slant to his mouth hadn’t faded. He glanced down. “What?” 

Roman realized he’d been staring, and quickly cast a judgmental look between Anxiety and Patton to cover his lapse. What sort of evil ploy was this, anyhow? It seemed like a fairly ineffective one.

“Oh, relax, I’m not going to wake him up. I won’t get you caught, and besides, I’d never live it down if I got caught playing mother hen to a light side,” Anxiety rolled his eyes, and leaned his elbows on his knees, extending a hand to Roman. “You won’t tell, right?”

Roman gave that particular question the response it deserved, snapping his fangs at the hand. His jaws shut on air, not because Anxiety had drawn away, but because Roman had pulled back slightly. He huffed, angry that his bluff had failed; what kind of idiot reached out after already getting bitten anyhow?

Anxiety muffled a laugh as he rose to stand, not offended. “Yeah, I figured. See you around, terror.”

Roman watched him leave, feeling a confused, uncertain pit in his stomach. 


End file.
